After months of allegations and name calling, Ariana has addressed the claims at length. She says she doesn’t mind being called a “diva” but she doesn’t like being called gendered slurs like “b**ch”.

She told Yahoo, “It’s funny how a certain amount of success comes with a certain amount of weird, inaccurate depictions of you, but I feel like it will die down because it’s not something that I pay into. And also things can only last so long when there’s little truth to them. So that’s why I don’t trip over it.”

She continued, “It’s weird to me because I do see myself as a fairly positive, very friendly person. So it’s kind of odd. I also think a lot of people don’t know what the word ‘diva’ means. If you want to call me a diva I’ll say, ‘Um, well, cool.’ Barbra Streisand is a diva; that’s amazing. Celine Dion is a diva; thank you. But if you want to call me a bitch, that’s not accurate. Because it’s just not in my nature.”

She added of growing into her music, “Well, I posed in a cute outfit with some kitty ears on and with my middle finger flipped up and posted it on my fan page. And my fans were like, ‘YES GIRL! OK!’ A lot of my fans have grown up with me. But at the same time, a lot of people were like, ‘She’s changing! What’s happened to you?’ I’m like, ‘It’s just a pic, y’all. I’m still the same old me. I’m just posing in a cute way!’ A lot of people go ape over one photo. But it’s just a photo. I’m still the same person I’ve been since I was four years old. Literally. Obviously, I’m a mature adult. But I’m still the same girl. I’m still Ariana from Boca who loves musical theatre, who loves her family, who loves the beach, who loves animals.”

She admitted of her sexualised image, “To me the idea of being a role model is just being yourself. And being un-apologetically yourself, whatever that means. Whether that’s just me simply dressing sexier on some days and more conservatively on other days because that’s how I wake up feeling, I believe in authenticity.”

Asked whether she gets label pressure, she insists, “I will never succumb to that. And I think that’s because of my mother, and because of my family. I come from a strong, loud Italian family. We don’t take s**t from anybody. But as somebody who’s also very sensitive and likes to please people, it’s conflicting for me. Because a lot of the time I like to say, ‘OK! If you say so!'”